C. pylori is a slow growing, fastidious organism and therefore cannot be easily isolated from biologic specimens which contain other contaminating bacteria. The contaminating bacteria in such specimens grow quickly and overgrow any C. pylori which may be present. For this reason, C. pylori cannot be cultured from the usual specimens such as stool, although it may be isolated from stomach biopsies and gastric juice. These latter two specimens require an expensive endoscopy and biopsy of the stomach. There is a need therefore for a method which might enable C. pylori to be isolated from a stool specimen, vomitus, oral secretions, contaminated gastric biopsies or other patient specimens, or specimens from the environment.